Industrial demand drives TI to lift guidance

LONDON – Chip maker Texas Instruments Inc. has narrowed its guidance for revenue in the first quarter of 2013 to the upper half of the previously expected range.

TI (Dallas, Texas) now expects 1Q13 revenue of between $2.80 billion and $2.91 billion compared with the prior range of $2.69 billion to $2.91 billion. In January when the original sales forecast range was posted it had been below analysts' expectations.

In a conference call with analysts on Thursday (March 7) Ron Slaymaker, TI vice president of investor relations, said the strength is most notable in the industrial market and in handsets and tablets. The computing and communications infrastructure markets show continued weakness, Slaymaker said.

When asked when they would pick up Slaymaker said: "I can say that we would have expected stronger from computing already. So computing is actually running weaker than we had expected back in January, as is the communications infrastructure."

Despite the strength of the wireless sector TI is in the process of exiting the mobile baseband business – handsets and tablets – and expects to have done so by the end of the year Slaymaker said.

Slaymaker said the industrial sector is now responsible for about 17 percent of TI's business and automotive for about 11 percent.